Iwati
culture of the southern Ghawle
demonym: Iwatian
The capital of Iwati is one of two capitals in the Ghawle duarchy, with Kugmak being the other one. Despite sharing a government, the two cultures are different in many ways. Like the Kugma, the Iwati believe in a natural plurality of the soul and also have a distinction between a biological family and a body family, a collection of entities within a single body that live together. The word for biological family is lul (plural zhùlul) and the word for body family is dhos (plural imhedhos).Naming Traditions
Family names
The line of biological descendants is kept track of for bookkeeping purposes and for recognizing the vessels involved, and these names are often agglutinative in nature, with the family names of direct ancestors glued together into a longer name, such as hìth+zhub+zhil+huhzh to make Hìtzhuzhilhuhzh. Names are recorded at birth, but are otherwise relatively unimportant to everyday life.
Other names
The body name is a name chosen by the members of the body family, dhos. The name can be anything, but it oftens references a collective, such as Star System or Purple Collective. These names don't have to be unique, although when imhedhos are choosing it is often recommended that they try to think outside the box to avoid more Star Systems and Purple Collective. Dhos names are often chosen for their aesthetic components. Imhedhos will choose words that appeal to them on a deep level, as decided by the entire dhos. It is common for dhos names to be in flux early on in a dhos' life, and names can change even after a long time because Iwatian people understand that new people can join or leave body families at any time.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Iwatian people speak languages in the Yìlmuhi language family. Languages in this family tend to have VSO order and are ergative-absolutive in alignment, rarely mixed, and have three genders. Yìlmuhi languages have influenced the Teshpen languages spoken in Kugma, but not a lot given the other capital city's remoteness.
Like Teshpen, there is also no first person or second person singular form, in accordance with their beliefs.
Culture and cultural heritage
Iwatian people believe that every vessel contains a body family, or dhos (plural imhedhos). There is a natural multiplicity inside the body that manifests as multiple entities. Each entity (shar, plural zhùshar) has its own identity. This includes, but is not limited to, name, age, gender, personality, lineage, or even species. These identities do not need to match the identies of the other zhùshar in the same vessel, although there is often some overlap. There can be any number of zhùshar in a vessel, from 2 to millions. Each shar has their own personhood that is recognized socially and legally.
Common Etiquette rules
It is common to ask a dhos which shar is currently available and interacting with the world, known as "fronting." Asking who is "at the front" is a polite way to acknowledge the personhood of the shar. Because each shar has their own identity, their sense of internal appearance may not match the appearance of the vessel, so one cannot tell just from looking at a vessel who is fronting without additional clues.
While not frowned upon exactly, not revealing if a shar is fronting when they are is considered something like lying. Each shar is expected to announce themselves. If a shar is not interested in making themselves known, they are expected to leave the front.
Common Dress code
The Iwati live near the equator of a large, hot planet. Unlike the Kugma who regularly venture into the mountains and require warm clothes, Iwatian people wear simpler clothes and prefer other methods to express their multiplicity. It is common for Iwatian people to wear beaded necklaces and use the beads and their patterns in order to convey who is fronting, such as locking a pendant on a green bead vs. a blue bead. Bracelets are also common, too.
Art & Architecture
While wood is not necessarily hard to come by in Iwati and the neighboring areas, it is still a prized material. Wood carvings often decorate the interior and exterior of homes, and skilled carpenters are well regarded as talented artists.
Foods & Cuisine
The Iwati are surrounded by savannah, with the end of the river Gìzluh to the east of the city walls. The starchy tuber lab (plural silab) is the main staple of the Iwatian diet. Silab are cooked and mashed along with butter and salt, rolled into long cylindrical tubes, and cut into small pieces. These pieces are then put into soups or dipped into sauces and eaten on their own.
Another common food is the dhen, a sweet round berry that is used in dessert fillings or eaten on their own as a summer snack.
Ideals
Gender Ideals
The Iwatian people recognize three different genders. Body families often have entities with different or conflicting genders, but even individual entities can have more than one gender, simultaneously or concurrently.
The gùp (plural imhegùp) gender is associated with the beginnings of things. Individuals of this gender often use ey/em or they/them pronouns. The colors associated with imhegùp are earth tones such as brown and green.
The buhpsumedh (plural zhùbuhpsumedh) gender is associated with endings. Individuals of this gender often use she/her or he/him pronouns. The colors associated with zhùbuhpsumedh are warm colors like red and orange.
The third gender is sidì (plural sisidì) and is associated with balance and the movement between things. Individuals of this gender use a variety of pronouns, using some combination of ey/em, they/them, she/her, or he/him.
Relationship Ideals
Iwatian relationships are expected to be committed and long-term. It is common to be exploratory and to seek out many partners, but once those bonds have formed between members of the imhedhos they are expected to maintain that relationship for as long as possible. These relationships can be legally registered and kept track of, but it is more common for the commitments to be upheld socially rather than legally.
Languages spoken
Related Locations
