Omish

The Omish are a tribal culture. They desire to live in harmony with nature and each other above all and make an effort to always put the wellbeing of the group before the singular person. Their homeland Omarus is the largest territory in Græwal and thanks to their medicinal knowledge and connection to nature, the population of their people have reached over 180 mio. people.

Origin

Created by the goddess Mihora, she taught her people from the beginning that they would need to honor and appreciate the nature that surrounded them if they wanted to experience true harmony. She put an emphasis on working together, create peace instead of war and to not be selfish. These teachings have influenced the Omish into becoming the people they are today.

History

Omish history is a work in progress and events will be gradually added

Values & Ideals

Religion

Everyone born in Omarus is automatically considered an Oracle of Nature. The religion is part of Summercamp and will be linked once it's done.

Beauty Ideals

People are considered to be beautiful if they look healthy, bright and welcoming. It's generally preferred to have a few pounds too much than too less as it's associated with a heightened vitality of the person. Scars on the other hand are viewed as unsightly and people often looked at with pitiful frowns on their faces. To them, scars are a sign that somebody either doesn't value life, can't take care of themselves or isn't a good healer.

Gender

There aren't really any gender constructs in omish culture. When born, it's much more relevant in which month you are born and under which sky sign. The color of your blood current is also an important factor. Professionals analyse these factors thoroughly after their birth and use this information to determine something akin to an archetype which will determine which nature the child has and what their contribution for the tribe will entail.

Sexuality

There aren't many restrictions regarding sexual activities with each other. As soon as a child acquires the token of ripeness, they are considered by their tribe as a worthy sex partner. Although a very liberal concept, it is absolutely unacceptable to discuss these activities or preferences in public. Sexual encounters are usually arranged in private and the initiator of the conversation should be sure that their desired partner or partners are all in accordance with this wish. Asking something undesireable of their fellow tribemates makes the round pretty fast and before you know it, you'll be known to everyone as a selfish philanderer.

Hygiene

Since there are a lot of rivers in Omarus, omish tribes usually flock to them. They prefer to bathe in nature together and in groups. Helping to cleanse each others body is similar to a ritual in omish culture which is said to strengthen ones bond with the river that is providing for them, but also building trust. Washing someone's back is the same as watching someone's back to them. If you don't have anyone to wash your back or someone is only reluctantly offering to do so after a while, you might want to think about your place in the tribe.

Social Intercourse

Conventions

In general, people in Omarus greet each other with a nice hug, to symbolise friendship and openness. Every tribe is considered a sister tribe and part of the extended family. An exception marks the southern tribes near the border to Martensia. Here, omarusians have to expect danger and thus, stand a few feet apart when greeting each other. Instead of a hug, arms are spread as a sign that you come without weapons and bring only peace.
Since they see harmony and peace as an important pillar of their community, they don't have much patience should someone from their tribe turn out to be a constant troublemaker. While this decision is not easily made, the community can come to a consensus that one member of the tribe is of no value to the whole and thus sentence one member to a life of quiescence (ritual will be linked when written).

Relationships

There are no formal rituals concerning marriage or relationships in general. It's the rule to see everyone as part of the whole and so there is no need or even desire to separate yourself from the community. It's still normal to give presents to someone you might like just a little bit more than the rest of your tribeskin. You just need to be mindful of giving presents to the rest of your community as well so nobody feels left out. Fortunately, for exactly this reason there are a lot of festivals where you have the opportunity to prepare gifts for everyone.

Medicine

Children get taught how to control their inner magical sources and use them to the benefit of others. For this reason, death by illness is extremely rare. Broken bones, wounds and all kinds of rashes can usually also be healed by their magic. When tribe members are fully trained and have reached the rank of a so called "Treater" even complicated damages to organs can be cured. Should something not be curable via magic, there is usually a potion or antidote that can be concocted with plants from the region. Up to date, there are only a few chronic diseases that have no method of healing and even in these difficult cases, symptoms and pain can be effectively reduced.

Education

Omarusians go to great lengths to educate themselves, but not just in medicine. They also see themselves as some sort of collector of historical events. This is why Omarus has the largest collection of recorded history in all of Græwal, with each tribe preserving a different part of history. As a consequence, young oracles of nature are often encouraged and later on required to achieve higher ranks to have visited every tribe in Omarus and read every part of history at least once. This journey often takes several years.

Architecture

Depending on the available resources in the region, omarusian tents are made from animal skind that are sewn together or other processed fabrics. To support these tents against harsh weather, they're impregnated with a potion to make them more sturdy. After that, people are free to decorate their tents with vines, flowers or paint. One thing to note, though - they always leave most of the tent to be decorated by others. It's very common to show one's gratitude, appreciation or value of another's friendship with a friendly message, symbol or other gift that's attached to the tent. Not leaving any free space for other people to give these gifts makes you look as if you're afraid nobody is going to leave anything on your tent which makes you look pretty pathetic in the eyes of your community.

Cuisine

The food served is dependent on what grows in that particular region and what animals roam in the environment. Fruit and vegetables are bumblingly planted as everything that's planted too orderly would be considered unnatural. To them, planting the seeds of what you've eaten is done out of gratitude towards nature as thanks for growing consumable plants in the first place.

Art

Art doesn't really have a high value in omish culture. At least not art that is without a purpose. If something is created out of necessity, like wands, plates or gifts for somebody else, a lot of care is placed into the creation of said object to pay homage to the material used. Engraved decorations often include symbols of their religion, animals, plants, and whatever else is found in nature. Even firewood is branded with the symbol of the tribe as it's said to bring good luck and prosperity for the community.

Fashion

When choosing the right attire, omarusians place more worth in clothes that aren't just practical, but also comfortable. In general, omarusians differentiate between two types of clothing for two purposes. Depending on the temperature, they wear robes of different thickness and number when they are spending time together in the tribe. Once they go outside to gather or hunt, they wear pants made out of leather. Even pilgrims on an educational journey would always carry one outfit to walk and one outfit to wear when spending time with another tribe.
Later, when Omarus started to really prosper and tribes were getting bigger and bigger, some people came up with an idea to gather even more things in one run. This was the birth of the legendary gatherpants, which had extra large sewn-in pockets, fixated to a waist belt so it could hold as much as possible without falling out.
Accessories are only worn when in casual wear, and it is extremely bad taste to make them for yourself or ask somebody else to make them for you. Bracelets, rings, necklaces and other trinkets should be given to you by somebody else, otherwise you might seem a little bit self-obsessed.

Technology

The usage of technology or acquisition of technological knowledge is mostly looked down upon. According to the omish, everything they need is given by nature, including the magic they were born with. Using something other than that is considered an insult to nature.

Leisure

In their spare time, omish love to read the everchanging magical currents in the sky and sometimes use them for fortune telling.

Proverbs

The water has run / The water has been poured.

Meaning: It's too late to change something now. Like the stream of the river, the stream of life only moves forward and not backwards. And like water you have already poured into your cup to consume, there is no point to try and throw it back into the ewer.

to mourn the river

Meaning: to attribute a disproportional amount of emotional meaning to an event that lies in the distant past.

Total Population
181 mio.

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Discovery
The beginning of time

Connections

Ancestry
Country
Omarus
Religion
Oracles of Nature
Languages
Ancient, Modern

Traditions

- TBD

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Customary Names

Masculine
Feminine
Unisex

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Noteworthy Persons: -